Emptyknitster

Yesterday it rained all day and gave us an inch of moisture! No better way to spend my afternoon than to finish the quilt I'd started weeks earlier. This quilt was made from leftover fabric from the puppy dog quilt, nice but not a favorite. It will keep a baby warm someday!

In my quest for boy baby quilts, I bought two puppy related fabric pieces. Little did I know how difficult it would be for me to then find coordinated material to complete the quilt. Just before we went into "shelter in place" mode, I went to the fabric store and bought fabric to complete the quilt, good, bad, or ugly! Even if it didn't prove to be a favorite, I was determined to get the puppy dog quilt made.  I like the quilt even if I'm not entirely sold on the stripe squares. The added bonus is I bought enough material to make a fraternal twin of the quilt which eliminates the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" aspect of making baby quilts on the fly!

This baby quilt was quite unplanned. After seeing a similiar quilt on you tube one afternoon, I set about making my own version. The bright little top is made of one of my favorite items - leftover fabric! The backing is a print fabric filled with dump trucks, diggers, and road signs, making it a very cute baby boy blanket.  I love this quilt and will be making others like this in the future.

I was able to make another quilt using scraps from the original fox quilt I made a couple of weeks ago. I was very happy with this second quilt until the last step - sewing on the binding. At that time I realized the white hadn't been sewn in all the places I had intended. However, two factors kept me from changing it: 1. I ran out of white material. 2. I like the maze effect.

I was happy to make a quilt for a little baby boy who will be born in ND in May. Hope to get it to the NorDakPurlGirl soon. The baby's room is going to be decorated in foxes. I had the blue flannel on hand. I went to the fabric store before social distancing to find cotton fox print and other color coordinated fabric. A book I read recently said to buy five different types of print for a quilt, large scale print with multiple colors (fox print), striped (gray), dotted (blue), almost solid (orange), small scale (orange swirls). I think it worked quite well. I bought a half a yard or each and think I'll me able to make another in a different pattern.

The California Dreamin' Gal asked if I would make a quilt for a special friend's much desired new arrival. The baby is a boy and I think I've written about the difficulty I've been having finding material for boy's quilts. So with the one stipulation daughter choose the fabric we were golden.  She brought up several batik fabrics and we strategized their placement and cut the quilt pieced out. This week I settled into the fiber room and completed the unusual baby quilt and it's just absolutely perfect! 

I had been struggling to make a cute little boy's quilt. Unhappy with the one I was working on, I laid it aside and consequently hadn't completed a quilt this year. In early December I finally abandoned the original one and I again searched the quilt book for a new pattern, went to the store and bought new fabric. I'm very pleased with the result...  and Michael seems content with it as well.   With leftover quilt pieces I made a doll quilt for a baby doll I hope Anna will care for as her Momma cares for Michael.

I've been wanting to sew another baby quilt for a few months. There was a mess in the fiber room and I've had a busy fall coming and going visiting the girls, so I put any thought of a quilt on the back burner. But this week with all the Christmas gifts wrapped and goodies baked I decided to kick back and enjoy the season by following my bliss. I thought I had enough scraps from previous quilts to make another quilt and was quite happy I had taken the advice of another quilter by pre-cutting all the extra quilt fabric into 7", 5", 3.5", 2.5" and 1.5"strips. I even had leftover binding cut and ironed, ready to be sewn on.  All I had to do was thread the sewing machine and get to sewing! I'm beginning to understand why a quilter has a stash just like knitters. While I was sewing this quilt I ran out of green, yellow and orange material making a to run to the store for several half yarn pieces necessary. Once again I have extras of these colors an...

I enjoyed making the baby quilts this last winter and told the girls I'd make more as gifts for their friends as needed. The Chick was the first to take me up on the task. This quilt is for a baby boy whose room will be decorated in a nature theme. The owls are a great touch! I was worried about the owl's background color and later I found out The Chick had been too. No worries, it's perfect and I just love how this quilt turned out.

I finished the latest baby quilt last night, the "Rainy Days" quilt. I will think several times before using anything but white for trimming the blocks on quilts. (I'm such a newbie perhaps that is the only way a person is suppose to make them).  I had thought the puppy themed material would be perfect for a baby boy but I continue to find it difficult to find the perfect combination of prints for a boy. I'm not giving up and  eventually I'll find just the right combinations of fabrics to keep a baby boy warm. I I love the pattern blocks of "Rainy Days" and the way the they play with your head - each block is square and the quilting is straight lines. This is a quilt I will make again.

I've enjoyed sewing two new quilts on my beloved sewing machine, Betty Singer.  When the first quilt was finished I realized there was almost enough material for second. Off to the fabric store I went making only a small purchase of fabric  - backing and binding. Soon it was back to Betty for another few days and the completion of that second quilt. I continue to make use of the book I received as a gift for Christmas, Quilt As You Go, Made Easy although both of these quilts have been modified and are slightly different from any in the book.  I have two more "queued up" and I hope to get going on them soon.

I caught the bug and thought I'd give quilting a try on my beloved sewing machine, "Betty Singer." Kinda liked it, so Sadie and I made twelve Christmas placemats and coasters for the holidays but I forgot to take pictures before packing them away... I had some leftover material and a new book, Quilt As-You-Go, which I'd received as a Christmas gift. I was going to "just try one square"...  I had a blast, and finished it this afternoon! I'm starting another this weekend!